Methacholine challenge test for asthma SCARY!?

Parent Cafe
1

<p>My daughters pulmonary doctor wants her to take the methacholine challenge test to decide if she has asthma or not.</p>

<p>She has been given rescue inhaler albuterol during slight wheezing and albuterol has NEVER worked for her. If it doesn’t work for her how can they count on it working during the challenge test (albuterol is what they give).</p>

<p>I envision my daughter being induced into an asthmatic attack during the test and the rescue medicine albuterol being unable to stop it! Plus my daughter has NEVER had an asthmatic attack…won’t this test make her petrified about how bad asthma can be?</p>

<p>I also wonder…if albuterol does not help her doesn’t that automatically mean that she does not have asthma?</p>

2

<p>If your D does not have asthma, she will not be “induced” into an astmatic attack by this test.</p>

<p>[Diagnosis</a> of Asthma at Mayo Clinic](<a href=“http://www.mayoclinic.org/asthma/diagnosis.html]Diagnosis”>http://www.mayoclinic.org/asthma/diagnosis.html)</p>

<p>

</p>

3

<p>National Jewish Hospital which specializes in treatment of pulmonary disorders has a very informative website:</p>

<p>[Bronchial</a> Provocation Tests - National Jewish Health](<a href=“http://www.nationaljewish.org/programs/tests/pulmonary-physiology/bronchial-provocation/index.aspx]Bronchial”>http://www.nationaljewish.org/programs/tests/pulmonary-physiology/bronchial-provocation/index.aspx)</p>

4

<p>I am just worried that the rescue inhaler won’t work (it never has for her) and they won’t be able to get her out of an asthmatic attack!</p>

5

<p>You should bring this up to your daughter’s physician since it is a concern for you - I’m sure he/she can put your mind at ease about this.
My guess is that they will have a wide range of drugs available to counter any effects (even severe ones) of the methacholine.</p>

6

<p>I agree that you should thoroughly discuss your concerns with her docs and whomever is performing the testing. My kids have had this test several times. It was administered at National Jewish as well as our local medical center. They are VERY careful about how they administer the test and watch for reactions in the patients. They are able to stop as soon as they note a reaction and provide appropriate treatment to reverse any reaction. Both of my kids are known athmatics & don’t have a strong positive benefit from albuterol either. They were both OK with the testing.</p>

<p>If the pulmo doesn’t think she has asthma, what does the doc think your D DOES have? Has she ever been evaluated for vocal cord dysfunction? That is commonly misdiagnosed as asthma & benefits from proper diagnosis and speech therapy techniques.</p>

<p>Sometimes it takes exercise testing to determine if a patient has asthma. They tried to get my kids to react at NJ, but it didn’t work. They are most reactive if their allergies are flaring and/or they have infection(s) and/or gastric reflux. All of these CAN trigger asthma & make it worse.</p>

7

<p>I’d think that a competent medical center would have a variety of asthma drugs on hand if they were conducting these tests. There are lots of alternatives to albuterol.</p>

<p>I have normally mild, very occasional exercise- and allergy-induced asthma. But one fall day, it got worse and worse until I could hardly breathe. Albuterol had no effect. I called my GP who listened to me over the phone and told me to get myself to the hospital emergency room, by ambulance if necessary. When I arrived they put me on a nebulizer with a different drug that cleared me up immediately. For awhile thereafter I took a prescription steroid (Flovent) in addition to the albuterol; eventually I did not need to take it any more.</p>